A review by nabaraditi
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I don't know what rating I want to give this book. So, I won't.
Don't read this book, if u have problem with violence, violence against women, if you're struggling with depression, are not in a good head space.
So the guy named Yozo is narrating his story and he's abused in every possible way in his childhood and how this incident or rather series of incidents affects him all his life. There is mysogyny in this book. There is alcoholism, morphine addiction, prostitution. There is suicidal thoughts and attempts. There's no ounce of hopefulness or optimism in this book. It's filled with hopelessness, emptiness, depression. There wasn't a single minute where I enjoyed this book. But this book wasn't written for entertainment or enjoyment. It's eye-opening for the society that there are people who are living an emotionally destitute life. It's about about how low one can get that even if they try to pick themselves up, their habits and their dreadful thoughts and beliefs don't let them.
There are many quotes in this book that hit like a punch for the society.
"Society won't stand for it.
It's not society. You're the one who won't stand for it-right?
If you do such a thing society will make you suffer for it.
It's not society. It's you, isn't it?
Before you know it, you'll be ostracized by society.
It's not society. You're going to do the ostracizing, aren't you?" 
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